Auto signal



M. 0. sMrTH AND E. A.4 MAHANNAH.

Auo SIGNAL.

AP\PLICATION FILED AUG- 15, 182i.

' Patented Feb. 21, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

M. 0. SMITH AND E. AflVlAHANNAH.

Auro SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I5.\921.

1,407,444- Patented Feb. 21, 192.2.

2 SHEETSSHEET Z.

is caused to assume.

terre MARSHALL o. snrrnnNn nvngan'rr e. MAHANNAH, or NIAGARA FALLS, New YORK.

To all whom t may-concern.'

Be it known that we, MARSHALL 0. SMITH and EVERETT'A. MALIANN'AH, citizens-oi the United.States,residing at Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagarav and State ofNew York, have inventedrcertain new and'useiul .Improvements in Auto Signals, ot which 4the followingis a specification. :Our invention relates" to signalsfor automobiles and the like.4 Y

The object isto `provide a device of this character specially suited `forclosed cars,

`.limousines andthe like, where itisVincon- `:venient or impossible-tof extend the hand outat theside ofthe car 'toindicatethe direction in which it is 'proposed Ato turn.'

Other objects will appearin the subjoined description. v V

.A leading feature ofthe invention consists of a semaphore formed of leaves` orfsectors pivotallymounted ina mo-rtise or elongated Ycavity inthe sideozt the car body, and adapted when'not Vin use to. be `folded into said Icavity and covered up from view, the` device having an operating lever extending through thebody to the inside 'of the `car at the sido offthe driver. Y

Another feature consists in having-the sectors controlled Vbya spring, one end ot which swings across a deadc'entre as the seinai phore ismoved from operative to 'inoperative position, so that ftheV spring holds the semaphore in whichever of said positions it- The invention consists in certain novel `features of construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accom- Vpanying drawings, .in which Fig. l is a sider elevation of our device in operative position, with the supporting cas- Fig. 2 yis a broken view on an enlargedseale showing in bottom plan, the inner ends ofthe sectors in their relation to the protecting cover and the operating lever. Fig. 'Sis' a broken view onfa similar scale showing the outer -end of the -semaphore viewed inthe direction ot the arrow 3m in Fig. 1. `Fig. 4 is .a bottom ,plan Y. fview of the sectors intheir folded relation to eachother, showinghjow they .areheldto- V gether at their ends ,and lheld, Iwider apart Afmtelnled,iate their-ends.

" Fig. 5, is a perspective of the topsector inverted positionA Fig. (iisl a lsectional, view, naar.enlargedscalaK ,showing the lower ,Sec-

AU'ro SIGNAL.

p Specification of Letters Patent. Patntdl Feb, 21, 1922, Application filed August .15, `1921. Serial No. 492,592.

torand the one next above it. to illustrate how the sectors are prevented `iromnioving entirely past each other when the semaphore is opened; and, Fig. 7 is an inverted perspecf tive of the operating lever of the semaphore.

The numeral'l indicates a plate, U-shaped in cross section, upon which the semaphore is supported.l This plate is suitably secured preferably in an outwardly facing mortise or'cavity ,4, in the car body 3, `at the 4lett side of the drivers seat. y

The semaphore is formed of a plurality of leaves or sectors 4 mounted attheirfinner ends on a pivot 5 which is suitably anchored in the U-shaped plate l. The sectors are held slightly spacedapart on the `pivot 5 by the interposed washers 6, and at their iouter ends have telescoping connection with each other by meansv of the bent ends 7, asshown particularly in Figs. 3 and 4.

The second sector, between its ends is each other as the semaphore is opened and- .closed.

The top sector is provided at its upper side with a longitudinally extend-ing rightangled section 4a which acts as a stiiiening rib and renders the sector rigid against lateral bending: and inasmuch as all the sectors are held at Yeach end against undue lateral movement relatively tovcacli other, it follows that the section 4a of the upper sector serves to render the whole semaphore more rigid laterally, thus adapting it to `easily resist the airpressure in a fast-1noving car, or when a stiff wind is blowing. j

At the inner end of the upper sectoryis an integral section 4b parallel with the main section of the sector; and `,while the main section of the sector is pivoted to one `side of the .U-shaped bar by thepivot 5, as alreadyset forth, the section 4b is pivoted `to the opposite side` of `the rUshaped barby `Sides to the correspondigig sides ofthe U- ,.Sheped bar, and @elle Serres tehldthe und@ 4portions 9 suitably arranged to limit the movementof the sectors relatively to each other when the semaphoreis opened. The operating lever 10 oi" the semaphore is bifurcated with the two sides ot its biiiurcated portion mounted to rock in the U- 'shaped bar l onthe pivots 5 and 8, said bifurcated portions near their ends being also riveted to the two' parallel sides of the upper sector as indicated'at '11, so that'said lever practically constitutes an extension of the upper sector of the semaphore. The end '10a Vof the operating lever extends through a slot 12 tothe inside ofthe car, in convenient proximity to the hand of the driver.

A spring 13 is secured at its 'upper end to the U-shaped bar asla, and at its lower end to a ypin 15 rigidly securedvto the section 4b of the upper sector. The parts are so arrangedfthat the lower end Vofl the spring moves over a dead centre (indicated by the line A-B in Fig. 1) as the signal is moved from operative to inoperative position. So that the spring serves to hold the signal in whichever of `said positions it is caused to assume. Y

The top section #la of the upper sector is 4partly cut away at the inner end of the sector, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5, to prevent interference with the lower end of the spring in passing between the two side sections of the sector. v

A tensionspring 16 is connectedl at one end to the U-shaped bar 1 and at the other end to the lower' sector, so that when the semaphore is moved' to its uppermost position, as indicated in Fig. 1, the spring 16 will pull sufficiently onthe lower sector to 4'open the semaphore as far as the struck-out portions '9 of the sectors will permit.

The `recess 2 lmay be provided with an incandescent lamp 17 adapted for-suitable connect-ion with a battery, and a Contact 18 connected with the 'lamp is arranged to be engaged by the lever l10El when in its lowermost position to complete the electrical circuit, so that at night the light will shine out on the signalwhen itis in its filisplayedl position. The battery, of course, would be controlled by a suitable switch to cutoff the connection in daylight. 1

A suitable'v handle A10b of insulating mata rial is provided at the inner end of the lever 10. Y v A cover 19 is provided for closing the recess 2 in which the'folded sectors are received when not in' use. This cover carries a fiat spring 20 riveted thereto at one end as indicated at 21 in Fig. 1, said spring being arranged to extend down through an opening 22 in the top section of the upper sector and along underneath said section to form `a connection between the cover and the upper sector, so that the cover will be controlled through said sector' by the operating lever 10a. Y

The cover 19 is hinged at its inner end to the carbody at 23; and the arrangement'just described permits the cover and the 'top sec- 1 tor to move longitudinally relatively to each other, and yet remain operatively connected together as the semaphore is moved `up and down.l 'a 'i In operation, when'it is desired to display the semaphore, the lever lOcis moved downwardly till the dead centre indicated by the dotted line A-B is passed, and then the spring 13 completes the operation .opening the semaphore.. In like manner, when the inner end of the lever 10"@l is `elevatedto move Vthe semaphore downwardly Ito-its inoper- 1. In a device of the characterdescribed, a

semaphore formed of'sectors pivoted at their Y inner ends and vadapted to fold upon each other, said sectors between their-endsbeing each given a different lateral configuration adapted to hold the intermediate portions'of the sectors spaced fromeach` other.

V2. In a device of the character described; a semaphore formed of sectors pivoted at their inner ends and adapted to fold upon each other and provided at their outer ends with mea-ns for limiting the lateral move-A ment of the sectors relatively toI each other, the upper one of' said sectors having. a top section bent at right angles to its main section to brace said top sectoragainst lateral strain, and said top section at its inner end having a vshorter section bent at right angles thereto to lie parallel with the inner end'of the main section of the sector, said parallel sections being provided at their inner ends with alined bores for suitable pivotal connection with the sector support; whereby the top sector serves to brace allthesectorsv against undue lateral strain; `and Vmeansat a point spaced from the inner end of said shorter section of the innersector VJfor engag ing the sector to hold it in its upper and lower positions.V

3. In a devlce ofthe character described, a semaphore formed of sectors pivoted at their inner ends and adapted to foldfupon eaiif other; an operating lever for moving the sectors to their operative and'inoperativepositions; a spring for engaging the uppersector of thesemaphore to hold the same inits uppermost position; anda weaker springs' for engagingtb'e lower sector of the sama inner ends and adapted to fold upon each other; the bodyl of the `car having an outwardly facing recess into which the sectors 10 are received when folded into inoperative osition' al cover for said Arecess hin ed to v g y the body of the car above the sectors and extending out over the top sector in parallel relation thereto; and means at the outer end of'said top sector for holding the cover in 15 spaced relation thereto while permitting longitudinal movement of the sector and cover relatively to each other.

y In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

MARSHALL O. SMITH. EVERETT A. MAHANNAI-I. 

